The "Wooden Wonder" De Havilland DH.98 Mosquito Multirole Combat Aircraft of WWII

The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito is a British twin-engined, shoulder-winged, multirole combat aircraft, introduced during the Second World War. Unusual in that its frame was constructed mostly of wood, it was nicknamed the "Wooden Wonder", or "Mossie". Lord Beaverbrook, Minister of Aircraft Production, nicknamed it "Freeman's Folly", alluding to Air Chief Marshal Sir Wilfrid Freeman, who defended Geoffrey de Havilland and his design concept against orders to scrap the project. In 1941, it was one of the fastest operational aircraft in the world.
Originally conceived as an unarmed fast bomber, the Mosquito's use evolved during the war into many roles, including low- to medium-altitude daytime tactical bomber, high-altitude night bomber, pathfinder, day or night fighter, fighter-bomber, intruder, maritime strike, and photo-reconnaissance aircraft. It was also used by the British Overseas Airways Corporation as a fast transport to carry small, high-value cargo to and from neutral countries through enemy-controlled airspace. The crew of two, pilot and navigator, sat side by side. A single passenger could ride in the aircraft's bomb bay when necessary.
The Mosquito FB Mk. VI was often flown in special raids, such as Operation Jericho (an attack on Amiens Prison in early 1944), and precision attacks against military intelligence, security, and police facilities (such as Gestapo headquarters). On 30 January 1943, the 10th anniversary of Hitler being made chancellor and the Nazis gaining power, a morning Mosquito attack knocked out the main Berlin broadcasting station while Hermann Göring was speaking, taking his speech off the air.
The Mosquito flew with the Royal Air Force (RAF) and other air forces in the European, Mediterranean, and Italian theatres. The Mosquito was also operated by the RAF in the Southeast Asian theatre and by the Royal Australian Air Force based in the Halmaheras and Borneo during the Pacific War. During the 1950s, the RAF replaced the Mosquito with the jet-powered English Electric Canberra.
By the early to mid-1930s, de Havilland had built a reputation for innovative high-speed aircraft with the DH.88 Comet racer. Later, the DH.91 Albatross airliner pioneered the composite wood construction used for the Mosquito. The 22-passenger Albatross could cruise at 210 mph (340 km/h) at 11,000 ft (3,400 m), faster than the Handley Page H.P.42 and other biplanes it was replacing. The wooden monocoque construction not only saved weight and compensated for the low power of the de Havilland Gipsy Twelve engines used by this aircraft, but also simplified production and reduced construction time.
On 8 September 1936, the British Air Ministry issued Specification P.13/36, which called for a twin-engined, medium bomber capable of carrying a bomb load of 3,000 lb (1,400 kg) for 3,000 mi (4,800 km) with a maximum speed of 275 mph (445 km/h) at 15,000 ft (4,600 m); a maximum bomb load of 8,000 lb (3,600 kg) that could be carried over shorter ranges was also specified. Aviation firms entered heavy designs with new high-powered engines and multiple defensive turrets, leading to the production of the Avro Manchester and Handley Page Halifax.
In May 1937, as a comparison to P.13/36, George Volkert, the chief designer of Handley Page, put forward the concept of a fast, unarmed bomber. In 20 pages, Volkert planned an aerodynamically clean, medium bomber to carry 3,000 lb (1,400 kg) of bombs at a cruising speed of 300 mph (485 km/h). Support existed in the RAF and Air Ministry; Captain R. N. Liptrot, Research Director Aircraft 3, appraised Volkert's design, calculating that its top speed would exceed that of the new Supermarine Spitfire, but counter-arguments held that although such a design had merit, it would not necessarily be faster than enemy fighters for long.
General characteristics
Crew: Two: pilot, bomb aimer/navigator
Length: 44 ft 6 in (13.56 m)
Wingspan: 54 ft 2 in (16.51 m)
Height: 17 ft 5 in (5.31 m)
Wing area: 454 sq ft (42.2 m2)
Airfoil: RAF 34 (modified)
Empty weight: 14,300 lb (6,486 kg)
Gross weight: 18,100 lb (8,210 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 25,000 lb (11,340 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × Rolls-Royce Merlin 76 V-12 liquid-cooled piston engine, 1,710 hp (1,280 kW) driving the left propeller
Powerplant: 1 × Rolls-Royce Merlin 77 V-12 liquid-cooled piston engine, 1,710 hp (1,280 kW) fitted with a blower for cabin pressurisation, driving the right propeller
Propellers: 3-bladed constant-speed propellers
Performance
Maximum speed: 415 mph (668 km/h, 361 kn) at 28,000 ft (8,500 m)
Range: 1,300 mi (2,100 km, 1,100 nmi)
Service ceiling: 37,000 ft (11,000 m)
Rate of climb: 2,850 ft/min (14.5 m/s)
Wing loading: 39.9 lb/sq ft (195 kg/m2)
Power/mass: 0.189 hp/lb (0.311 kW/kg)
Armament
Guns: 4 x 7.7 mm Browning machine guns, 4 x 20 mm Hispano cannons
Bombs: 4,000 lb (1,800 kg)
Avionics
GEE radio-navigation
#aircraft #mosquito #DH98

[@Dronescapes]

Click the link to watch more aircraft, heroes and their stories, missions: www.youtube.com/@Dronescapes

[@huwzebediahthomas9193]

Thanks for this upload. I left a few comments. 👍

[@flyinguy123]

Guess where the Sitka spruce plywood came from....Mosquito Lake, Queen Charlotte Island BC Canada. Boeing still owns large stands of Sitka spruce there

[@ronmailloux8655]

My mother worked at West Fraser Mills in New West Minister B.C. during ww2 and probably laid down the Spruce plywood for the Mossy.

[@flyinguy123]

@@ronmailloux8655 The plywood was stamped with MOSQUITO LAKE .....hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Side note, I have 20' plus lengths of milled Sitka spruce....maybe someday I will do a wood plane! last one was aluminum.

[@ronmailloux8655]

@@flyinguy123 Fraser Mills was quite the lumber and plywood mill during and after the war. During ww2 raw logs were sent there and processed into timber and plywood . The plywood was then sent off back east or over seas for manufacturing.

[@dancolley4208]

At present, one of the large markets for sitka spruce is in the field of manufacturing guitars. One Canadian guitar company has it's own Sitka orchard.

[@arniewilliamson1767]

@@ronmailloux8655 My mom worked doping the canvas at the Downsview Ontario DeHavelland plant. She said some nights she would come home woozy from the fumes. They didn’t wear the safety gear then that they do now.

[@arniewilliamson1767]

I remember a neighbour of ours a couple of decades ago who flew night fighters in the German air force during the war. He stated that just hearing Mosquitoes were in the area was enough to cause a shiver of terror up his spine.

[@MrDaiseymay]

Towards the end of the War, when the Luftwaffe had few remaining night fighter's, to attack the Mosquitos; the German crews couldn't even get a daytime rest, as hoards of Mosquitos dominated the Skies round the clock, and bombed their planes and Barracks on the Airfields too. It was reffered to as the Mosquito terror.

[@DG-wu7ke]

Night fighters were iconic combat fighters. None of today's electronics and surviving on the deck in the dark in enemy airspace.

[@huwzebediahthomas9193]

Impressive light bomber, lethal fighter once they dropped their load, got rid of the weight. Country carpenters turned from chairs and tables into aeronautical craftsmen.

[@Dronescapes]

👍

[@Bryanscott88]

Should've been called the "wooden paddle" cause it was known for whooping ass 😆

[@skykeg4978]

For most versatile, I would include the Pe-2 and A-20. While neither was exceptional as a night fighter like the Mosquito, the A-20 did serve early on and eventually gave way to the P-61. The Mosquito has to be the greatest multi-role aircraft of WWII followed by the Ju-88.

[@tomsmith2209]

Overall best plane of WW2. Pity we didn't get the Hornet earlier.

[@muff.t2780]

The Hornet was Winkle Brown's favourite aircraft If it was good enough for a legend, it's good enough for me.

[@bieragaino440]

At 23:58 looks like Kåfjord , Alta, Norway against Tirpitz .

[@jp-um2fr]

Tucked away under a pile of rubbish in an old hanger being demolished, the moulds and many other items were found. Anyone who has built a model aircraft from balsa wood knows how weak it is, but sandwiched between layers of plywood it's an ideal 'filler'. I wonder where they got it from ? Lastly, it's so nice to hear an American not slagging off our tiny islands smaller than Texas. Great stuff mate - buy you a pint ?

[@somebloke4027]

It’s not slagging off the Brits because all this content including the script is ripped off from British documentaries. Not an original word in it.

[@tonbopro]

stories of chimneys taken home from the frontline was a testament to their rooftop raids

[@MrDaiseymay]

Chimney's ? I've heard of tree branches but ?

[@huwzebediahthomas9193]

There was a drama TV series in the UK, called Pathfinders, in the 1970s I think. Then there is the David McCallum and Suzanna Nieve movie, Mosquito Squadron.

[@ashtongoorachan5168]

Beautiful machine was the Mosquito

[@samrodian919]

A wonderful documentary, though it's a great pity that the narrator was not English, as the pronunciation of some of the key words like Salisbury Hall and the like really do grate on English ears! lol can that be re-dubbed?

[@dalj4362]

Awesome plane, one of the best in WW2.

[@MrDaiseymay]

Name another, that achieved what the Mosquito did .

[@johnfrancis4401]

What amazing was its bomb load was equal to a heavy bomber lumbering along with 11 crew on board.

[@MortonBartlett-yy3cn]

Max load for a Lance was 22,000 lbs (1 bomb, Grand Slam) so I doubt the Mossie could equal that however Mossies load was still impressive

[@tomholland2707]

punching holes in subs with the 57mm auto cannon, such fun

[@gregmiller7584]

Thanks!

[@Dronescapes]

🙏👍

[@rabidsasquatch]

"We put the bombs through the front door"

[@ronaldbertin9455]

ONE BADASS PLANE😊

[@bradyelich2745]

Someone do a proper new vid on Mossie. Nobody ever mentions "F" for Freddie. The bomber with the most missions then crashed in propganda flight.

[@MrDaiseymay]

How about the Mossies that were painted in Civilian colours / decals , and flew regular Night trips to 'neutral' Sweden, with Top Secret paper's, Gold Coins, ( to payfor their High Class Ball Bearings ) usually supplied to the Nazis. And brought back, Downed Allied air crews, smuggled from occupied Norway ,to Sweden. The most important passenger, was Danish Atomic Scientist, Niels Bohr, who flew to Britain, and eventually, joined the international group of scientists, who built the first two Atomic Bombs ( Operation Manhattan ) in America. Top That !

[@globalhawk777]

“The anti-shipping formations were cunningly missed…” “the rocket elbow of the mosquito” I mean wtf…

[@scottpeterson1134]

I never hear how fast it was just that it was fast whats the speed

[@smythharris2635]

Put the bombs in the front door😅

[@antionewoods9258]

Ch-53 if you please.

[@greavous93]

How are air brakes hydraulically operated?

[@brentfellers9632]

Your thinking of air brakes on heavy trucks or other HD equipment

[@scottfw7169]

Air brakes on aircraft provide braking by offering resistance to the air flow, as opposed to air brakes on trains and trucks which are braking systems actuated by compressed air; isn't English a wonderful language, it is both quite flexible and quite vague at times. And, aircraft use the term air brakes for the brake systems which deploy in to the airflow since most aircraft also have brakes (usually hydraulic) on the landing gear wheels and those are usually simply referred to as brakes. And remember, English is the language where you drive on a parkway and park in a driveway.

[@peterduncan-smith463]

Very annoying with the pronunciation of place names

[@muineeguh7011]

4:30 those eyebrows

[@SeedOfElijah]

The hope of the political prisoner. No wonder the uncle said it was his fave. WW2 aircraft. His Mom was guest of Gestapo and escaped, though I never heard a plane part.

[@canusakommando9692]

My Gramps flew the DH-98 Mossie in the RCAF. A real man's aircraft .

[@Dronescapes]

👍👍

[@thegrinch8161]

I see she bears a stricking resemblance to the American connie, oops I meant the other way round

[@AlanReynoldsBucklandJunction]

Totally British. Well done ole CHAP'S. Regards Albow in DOVER UK :o)

[@MrT67]

What a pain in the ass the Mosquito must have been to the enemy. With its introduction nothing was unreachable or untouchable. Shipping, long distance targets, high accuracy bombing, anti-shipping, night fighter and at a pinch, fighter. People often compare the Mosquito and the P38. Its unnecessary. The former was designed as a bomber that could do many other things, the latter was designed as a fighter. If I had to fight WWII with only three aircraft, I'd choose the P51, the Mosquito and the Lancaster. The P51 for it's versatility as a fighter and long-range ability, the Mossie for it's versatility as stated, and the Lanc for its ability to carry pretty much any payload.

[@fuzziemorris886]

If kamikaze had this tech...

[@huwzebediahthomas9193]

15:35 - I am right in saying each Mozzie had two different Merlin engines, one normal and one contra-rotating, for flight control balance?

[@darrenmoore7779]

Hi, I think it's the same engine, but a different prop gearbox, to stop torque steer I suppose, regards Daz

[@barrymiscampbell6547]

No, the propellers both rotated the same direction.

[@darrenmoore7779]

@@barrymiscampbell6547 Hi, thanks for that, I was confused with P38 lightning! I'm such a plonker, derrrr🙄

[@gerrycoogan6544]

A developmental model experimented with a contra-rotating set up but it wasn't pursued into production models.

[@stefanlaskowski6660]

​@@barrymiscampbell6547There are at least two instances in the film clearly showing contra-rotating propellers.

[@MrDino1953]

How much faster would it have been if the wings were swept back? Did the designers consider that or did they just lazily copy-and-paste other wing designs current at the time?

[@scottfw7169]

How much flight-tested research on swept wings was there in 1938 and 1939? How much in-service operational experience with the handling of swept wing military aircraft was there in 1938 and 1939? How well had the torsional loads on swept wings of wooden construction been tested by 1938 and 1939? Did the designers work within the existing state of the art for aircraft engineering engineering or did the designers magically divine future developments?

[@stefanlaskowski6660]

​@@scottfw7169Probably very little, since aircraft speeds had not yet reached a point where swept wings were useful.

[@TerryHickey-xt4mf]

What planes were swept wing in 1938? to carry that much bomb load they correctly 'lazily' made what would deliver the goods, and it did. My dad always praised the mozzie when he was over in Germany fighting for our freedom, and a few of his french friends were happy they bombed the prison so they could escape. I didn't exist at the time, and do now thanks to mozzies destroying a very important rail link containing a train heading his way full of unfriendly Germans.

[@20chocsaday]

A late WW1 German fighter plane was called "Albatros" and the Mosquito may have come from the civilian aircraft of that name.

[@georgekusz4221]

Just thinking that my country man had anidea to make a fighter, bomber war plain out of plywood? He hadto be Polish, no?

[@georgekusz4221]

And it took Br't Ish to do it. Splendid combination ole chaps.

[@scottpeterson1134]

P 38 was faster

[@nvkulk]

The newest addition to the North Korean Air Force

[@TerryHickey-xt4mf]

your behind the times there a bit. NK are supplying arms to Russia to help them with the Ukraine war, no mozzies flying around over there I think!

[@JesperGottliebLarsen]

Sorry but the story isn’t quite accurate. The plane wasn’t build in wood because of foresight in lack of metal. It was build of wood because there wasn’t any metal for an experimental air craft. There is quite a difference.

[@scottfoster3445]

Composite wonder

[@jfc213]

still flying today now its called the A10 ?? yes

[@markdavis8888]

So sad when our human genius is used to destroy each other.

[@brentfellers9632]

Remember the technology came from peaceful designs.

[@buckhorncortez]

“Diplomacy without arms is like music without instruments.” - Frederick the Great...

[@TerryHickey-xt4mf]

every thing we invent is a double edged sword unfortunately. The Chinese invented gunpowder to entertain, in the west we used it to make guns. Nuclear energy has the potential to supply unlimited power to the grid, or extinguish mankind in one big bang. Advanced medicine can save millions of lives or create a virus that cannot be beaten. Computer power has joined us together around the world, we can communicate visually in a split second, but AI has the power to stop civilization in it's tracks and take us back to the middle ages.

[@thespartan8476]

Churchill and the British didn't even have the decency to allow these brave Polish fighter pilots who Saved England to March in the Victory parade day in England. Because Churchill didn't want to insult Joseph Stalin. And the Most Decorated Military Unit in U.S. History was The 442nd Infantry Regiment (Japanese: And go look and see how the Americans treated them and their families. The British and Americans have no shame, indeed.

[@Retroscoop]

Yhe only thing wrong with this beautiful and efficient plane is its name "Mosquito". Something more vibrant and in accordance with its characteristics would have been welcome, like "Eagle" or 'Fighting falcon" or something like that. But then again, the name "Tomcat" for the F 14 too was odd, have you ever seen a flying cat ?

[@paulbantick8266]

Apt if you ask me. Stings and the most deadly of insects.

[@richardpeychers4076]

Can't agree, Mosquito like the plane is aggressive through its continual attacks and to emphasis the fact after the large Canon was fitted came the added Tse Tse a sting like no other.

[@globalhawk777]

Awful computerised commentary, ruining excellent archive footage.

[@Kadetttreter78]

Are you not ashamed by seeing these pictures of the German cities it done to England but hold that slowly bringing 😅you many people who don’t want to work and you can get them away from a small island🎉